interesting to see this public case made. obviously, they're trying to do something with that and have that be accountable for the world's eyes. michael leiter, thanks for your time tonight. >> good to be here. >> as i mentioned earlier in the broadcast be sure to tune in tomorrow night. there's going to be an election special report at 10:00 p.m. eastern. chris matthews will host that. live reports on super tuesday. you don't want to miss that. and chris hayes is up next. hillary's obstacle course. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this big focus on hillary clinton. is there any real reason she shouldn't run for president? or is this just a smart way to build up suspense and keep the wolves from the door? or is there something real in this health issue? meaning is there a real danger from the accident that led to

that concussion she suffered in 2012? or is this just trouble staring by reince priebus and his band of merry elves? and why are vice president joe biden, maryland governor martin o'malley and the others out there putting out smoke signals that they are ready to run for president. if nobody on the planet believes any of them can beat hillary, does that mean at least some of them are betting she won't be there to run against? tonight, i would like to get to the bomb of this big will she or won't she? find out what the motives are for people who are acting like she's not. and why are republicans talking up a the health issue uh now? why are democrats running as if she's not running? what's the skinny on the strongest presidential wannabe since dwight eisenhower. we have the co-chair of the super pac supporting hillary clinton in 2016. i just want to say, like both of you, i think we can all agree

last week we saw a very strong performance by team clinton, both bill and hillary clinton out there battling the comments made by karl rove, sensing the signal, it seems to me certainly they're ready to run for president. bill clinton said this is just the beginning of the attacks on her. according to "the washington post" who kept tabs on this, hillary clinton's name was mentioned 98 times on the sunday talk shows. on fox sunday, karl rove doubled down on his previous comments about her so-called health situation. let's watch. >> any regrets? >> no. look, my point is this, she's a human being. she's -- you would not be human and not have a serious brain injury like this was and take it into consideration if you're thinking about going and doing what she might do. >> so this was concern for her? >> yeah, look, i -- >> [ laughing ]

>> yes, i'm concerned as one human being for another, but i'm more concerned about people say this is a done deal. i'm not so certain. >> well, on "meet the press" republican national committee chair reinci priebus made this hypothesis about hillary's calculations for 2016. >> my view, though, david, is that given the months she just had, i actually doubt where she will run for president in 2016. >> is she the candidate you as the head of the republican party most fear? >> i think hillary is a known product. sometimes it's worse running against a blank slate. hillary has decades of history for us to explore. >> why are the republicans led by their foxiest guy there -- maybe that's a misuse of term -- karl rove. maybe not up to date on how the term is used. sometimes clever at times in character, why does he stir the

pot on this? why this -- at this point, you know, a year before she's even probably going announce, why this? >> they cannot help themselves. when reince priebus say she is's not running you just have to put a big not in front of it. of course they're afraid of it. they want to try to knock her out of the box. >> how does talk like this on fox or even on "meet the press" accomplish that goal? >> it doesn't. >> hillary knows she's healthy or not healthy. she knows all the facts. how does it change history when they do the blabber on sunday? >> in fact, it does the reverse. if anybody read hillary clinton's biography, when she talks about when she was young and her -- she came home crying as a child because she was beaten up by a girl in school, her mom, dorothy, sent her out

the door and said do not come back until you beat that girl right back up. this is a resilient woman. she was raised to be resilient and all this talk will only serve to strengthen this backbone of steel. >> two questions to you, chris. one analytical. what's their motive? if they only entice her to run, they must know what she's up to. do they really think they can talk her out of running? do they really think they can influence her negatively? >> i think there's a difference in enflunsing the conversation about hillary clinton and convincing her not to run. the answer to the second question is no, i don't think either of them think hillary clinton is going to take their advice. or if they say well, she's had a rough month that's. >> going to impact her decision. they can impact the conversation around her. look, i don't know what karl did this on purpose or not, but by raising it now, he has injected it into the conversation. whafgs the nature.

is there anything we don't know about the fall or her health? she would be matching ronlds reagan as the oldest person ever elected at 69 if she did win in 2016. so that might have been a narrative anyway, but it's definitely going to be a narrative going forward from now until when she announces and probably frankly during the campaign. >> let's take a look at -- governor, first, i want you to react what chris wrote in his speech. here's what you wrote in today's washington post. quote, what could keep her from running? for all the drama caused by karl rove, a blood clot on her brain is a serious thing. bill clinton insisted this week his wife is in better shape than he is and her aides say she's absolutely a clean bill of health. but clinton would be 69 years old on election day. her age with that scare, could believed her age with that scare

in late 2012 and it's hard to imagine clinton not taking a full accounting of her health before deciding to run. do you think that's something that had a chance to sort of do a gut check and say, you know, i had this thing happen. is this part of my thinking? >> well, no, i have not talked with her about that, but i can tell you that, raising this issue, it's going to be raised anyway. as it would be with any candidate. you always have to release your health care records. this is not anything new. whoever the republican is, they'll have release theirs, too. but putting this out this early to me, it's going to backfire. because it is suggesting all of the lines of attack, only on her, only make her seem more resilient. it makes people -- it reminds people what a fighter she is. of what she's had to endure. >> so let me ask you, if you were on the other side of it, you had a republican coming at you that looked unbeatable and you knew they had a concussion in the last two years you wouldn't raise the issue of

health on the other side. >> maybe i would? >> then the republicans are doing what politicians usually do. go for the weakness. >> i completely agree with you on that. all i'm saying is it's not going to feed into their strength. it is going to backfire on them. you see all of these people rising up, even some republicans saying he went too far too soon. >> okay. well, i just think a lot of people on the democratic side are making moves like they think it seems to me might not run. the sunday talk shows were dominant about hillary clinton's health or so-called health. let's watch him in action. >> i think that health and age is fair game. it was fair game for ronald reagan, fair game for john mccain. >> do you think she's suffered some sort of brain injury that raises legitimate questions about whether she's healthy to serve as commander-in-chief? >> i'm not a doctor. what i do know is the issue is going to come up as it does for any person running for president. >> i think any presidential

candidate or vice presidential candidate is going to have to answer questions about their health. i wouldn't want to prejudge mrs. clinton's health. >> i'm not questioning her health. what i'm questioning is is whether or not it's a done deal that she's running. she would not be human if she did not take this into consideration. she'll be 69 at the time of the 2016 election. if she gets elected and serves two terms she'll be 77. she is going to have to cough up these medical records. the center for disease control says a concussion is a type of draw mattic brain injury. it's serious. >> anyway, ronald reagan was about a year older than her, by the way. just to get that sort of clear. chris, why are so many democrats like joe biden out there suggesting to everybody that they want to run, these are qualified heavyweights. these are really smart presidential types. sternly kir 12e7b gillenbrand. martin o'malley. you hear it from schweitzer out there in montana.

they want to run and they could be president in certain situations. but this one, why are they running in this situation knowing that hillary is going into this race? >> because, chris, i actually think, you know, the whole, she's going to have to cough up her medical records. put that piece aside, but i actually think karl rove is right in that no one, and i don't think governor would say this, no one has evidence that hillary clinton has said privately to anyone i'm definitely running. it certainly looks like she's running. members of congress are endorsing her, the governor is involved. there's a lot of motivation there. but it's not a done deal. why are those sorts of people -- well, there is a chance she doesn't run. she is not an announced candidate in this race. until she is, the bidens, the o'malleys of the world want to make sure donors, major donors especially and the activist communities know if she isn't in, particularly in biden's

case, he is. don't sign up with somebody just yet. if she's not in, i am the next day. i don't think biden ultimately runs against her, but she's not announced. she's not in the race. we think she's going to run, but politics is strange. i thought mark warner was going to run for president in 2008 and he didn't. >> she's running. i hope she's healthy to run. i hope she runs. thank you. too bad you can't run. this canadian thing, what a drag. >> it's a good thing. >> thank you. coming up, the biggest day in this year's primary season comes tomorrow. it offers the most hope for democrats. they have a shot at picking up senate seats in ku ki and georgia. inside track for governor of pennsylvania. and of course, the new york/new

hampshire police commissioner who used the n-word to describe president obama with a vengeance then refused to apologize saying, quote, he meets and exceeds my criteria for such. anyway, residents, local political leaders and mitt romney have called on him to resign and later today, he did just that. and north carolina doubles down on evil. they tell people they can't vote and now they tell them they speak. it's by law now prohibited. and we' seen tharenthal, watch what happens when bill mahrer gets a hold of him.

>> the pole surveyed voters in the swing districts and battleground state where is the midterms will be decided. they found likely voters in those areas prefer to vote for a republican over a democrat by .seven points. it 41% for the republican candidate generically, 34% for the democrat. we'll be right back with a look at the big primary races on tap for tomorrow.

>> tomorrow will be the biggest primary night of the year. i'll be anchoring special election coverage here on msnbc from washington at 10:00 p.m. tomorrow night. critically important primary contests will be held in six states. pennsylvania, kentucky, you see them on the map there, georgia, arkansas, idaho and oregon. three of those states feature race where is democrats could actually make important gains this november. no matter which way the wind is blowing. let's start with the biggest of them all, the republican senate primary battle in kentucky where senate minority leader mitch mcconnell faces matt bevin. it's a race democrats all over

the country will be watching to see how vulnerable will be when he gets to the general election against democratic channeler allison grimes. that race is as to-up, right on the nail. and democrats have a realistic chance to pick up a senate seat against a crowded and increasingly unhinged, if you will, republican field. tomorrow night, that republican crowd will likely be whittled down to two candidates that will compete in a july run-up. that's very southern. michelle nun matches up against any challenger right now. she's also in a close race. and my home state of pennsylvania, democrats are looking to defeat the very vulnerable governor, tom corbett. democrats will decide who leads that charge. chelsea clinton's mother-in-law could push her to victory in the house seat being vacated by allison schwartz who's running for governor.

those are the big matchup. all the analysis and victory speeches. i love them. especially the concession speeches, they're always the best. tomorrow night first on "hardball" at 7:00 eastern live, and then our special coverage live at 10:00 all on msnbc. david corn is an expert on everything. he's a washington bureau chief for mother jones. and ken voe gel is with politico. ken, you're a philly guy. i want to start with mitch mcconnell. believe it or not, mitch mcconnell represents center right, as much as democrats don't like him, liberals mistrust him, they think he's been around too long. he's up against a guy named matt bevin out there. >> he was a great tea hope and so far it appears as if he's going to be a great tea party disappointment. there's really no question that mitch mcconnell is going to hold him off and win. the question is the margin. and the bigger question for me is what happens to matt bevin's supporters when mitch mcconnell is the republican nominee. are they discouraged?

and this is a broader question we could ask of a lot of race where is the tea party candidate has lost to a more establishment republican. are the tea partiers going to sit home? are they going to stop giving money to tea party groups and candidates? i even saw some polling that suggested that some of matt bevin's supporters might support grimes, the democrat, in the general election. so this is a bigger question. >> can we fly from talk to reality here. who is such a republican puma, if you will, to use an old term, that would go from matt bevin, hard right, in fact, hard right of mitch mcconnell to go all the way over to the democratic side and vote for the democrat. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is in a neck and neck battle in the fall. according to a new kentucky blue grass poll, the approval rating is at a mere 34%. he's been around forever. and only 39% who support matt bevin support mcconnell in

november. they would rather cross party lines and vote against mcconnell. you know what is that? >> you know what it measures? it measures how much the tea partiers in kentucky despise mitch mcconnell. >> excuse me, i'm center left on most things. why do they hate mcconnell when he's pretty much a stalwart republican? >> if you have been to washington and paid attention, you would see him as basically the number one foe to obama, yet the tea party argument is that he didn't vote for shutting down the government. you know, he hasn't figured out a way to stop obamacare. he supported the bank bailouts which matt bevin supported, too. it's the very far right ideological somewhat -- >> even more than that, david, he's actually come out and said

that the tea party needs to be crushed. it's more than he's seen as the establishment. he's positioned himself as a tea party vanquisher and he may very well end up being that. >> you always know the candidate is in trouble when they bring the wives out. i'm sorry. he has a very nice wife, of course, stands there with him, talking for him after he's been in office how many year? 18? 24? all those years, i think it's his sell h of by day and she's there to freshen him up. and also, could it be, just guessing that he's running as a woman this fall? get his wife out there. she's a pro, a professional, a heavyweight. get her out there. >> a woman who is younger than she is. much more viable in terms of her outward appearance. he's never been popular in kentucky. every time he's won an election, he's always been 50% or below in terms of approval ratings. he's a cut throat politician who knows what has to be done to get across the finish line. he's done it time and time

again. we'll have to see if his luck holds out this time. but it's getting more and more difficult. >> coal will be mentioned in november and so will guns. nun is a conservative democrat. matches up well against a crowded republican field. according to polling averages, she's leading much of the field, trailing only republican primary front-runner david purdue by just three points. a july runoff in that gop primary field is all but guaranteed because no one is expected to get 50% of the vote which is required. it looks to me like the two possible big good newses for the democrats in november are both women, both, if you will legacies. both with famous fathers, active in democratic politics, and i do believe that's something to look for. that's one reason i'm bedding on landrieu, betting on begic and betting on pryor. you can withstand the torrential

bad winds that are going to be blowing this fall against the democrats generally. your thoughts? >> yeah, that's exactly right. you need all the stars to line up for a democrat to do well in a purple or a red state as we're talking about now in 2016. that just may be the case in kentucky, or as david mentioned, mitch mcconnell has had trouble in almost every reeaex race he's been in. and georgia where there appears to be a little bit of self-combustion going on in the republican side headed into a runoff with the potential of a candidate sneaking in who may very well seize the tea party mantle, creating yet another opportunity for another round of tea party ver tus establishment. >> can a right winger get 50% in a runoff? >> in a runoff, you know, it sort of starts with a clean slate. and she's not really a right winger. right now she's not regarded as a tea party candidate. but there's still power in that tea party branding.

and if she's forced to sort of differentiate herself in runoff, i think that the safe bet is that she will emerge as sort of the tea party favorite in a runoff. >> i want to go to pennsylvania where i grew up. i think tom corbett could have beat some of the candidates. i think tom wolf is the strongest in the polls. he sounds like he would appeal to the center. what do you think? can he beat corbett? >> he's really far ahead. >> he spent $10 million of his own money. >> shows how far money can go. but it's expected to be a very low turnout primary election. so you have alyssa schwartz, who is a congresswoman, and the state treasure who has a lot of union support, a lot of troops on the ground. even though tom wolf is up by 10, 20, 30 points depending on the poll. it could end up being very close tomorrow night. but as you say, any up with

othese candidates has a good shot against tom corb to t and they all represent a different part of the democratic party. >> he's got the best best if he whens to beat chrebet? >> i think he hauz. but both wolf and allison shaurds are both regarded as sench ris. even though there's a candidate that may be union backed, he's probably not going to win. it's probably going to be the centrist. and that spens forward to 2016, pennsylvania might be more fertile turf for hillary clinton than elizabeth warren. >> who wins the democratic primary? >> marjorie margolis was my senator growing up. i think she's the big name. i don't know if she's going to end up winning but i think that bodes well for her. >> i always liked marjorie. anyway, david corn and ken vie -- vogel.

up next, bill mahrer's cant lose strategy for raising president obama's poll numbers. memorial day weekend? looks like fun. but what about this? if you're looking to buy a car, now is the time and truecar is the way.

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my husband and i were first married, we moved to another city and i just said i want to get to know people so i did some adult ed classes. this was one. this is so cool. get ready to be amazed. so here's the front. and pull the two little sides down. and you' got an iris. it is so great. >> time for "the side show."

yes, that was michele bachmann on the haulmark channel earlier today, showing she is lead a different more liberal tea party movement. bill maher has a plan to help president obama to improve his sagging numbers. he says impeachment would help president obama. here's the advice he gave to blake farenthal this past friday. >> he said a question i get a lot is, if everybody is so unhappy with the president why don't you impeach him? well, maybe because you can't impeach a president for making you unhappy. or can you? blake farenthal, you might have stumbled on to something. the declaration of independence, which is almost the constitution says we have the right to happiness. then we can impeach him for dereliction of happiness.

so there you go, republicans. you finally have your impeachable offense. obama gave you a case of the sads. when the republicans impeached clinton, his approval rating shot up 10 points to 73. obama's approval is at 41. he could use a little bit of that impeachment mojo. finally, joe biden may be sitting vice president and potential candidate for 2016 for president. but for one high school student up in connecticut, he's also her idea of the ideal prom date. no joke. back in the fall of 2013, high school senior talia maselli summoned the courage to ask the vice president to her prom. i'm inviting you so far in advance because i'm sure many 17-year-old girls send you prom invitations and i had to beat them to it. months passed without any reply to her.

until last thursday. just one day before the big night, the high school senior was shocked to receive a hand delivered note and a corsage from the vice president. ever the gentleman, biden explained he could not make it, but he did extend her an invitation to the white house. not a bad consolation. joe, you're amazing. up next, the police commissioner up in new hampshire who used the n-word to describe president obama and refused to apologize. guess what just happened to him? you're watching "hardball" the place for politics.

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imagine you're new in town when you overhear someone loudly describe president obama using the n-word in their conversation right next to you. now imagine the man using the racial slur is one of your new town's police commissioners. that happened to jane o'toole in new hampshire. when o'toole complained to local elected officials about his public use of the n-word, he was unapologetic. and despite calls of his resignation, he refused aej even double downed. he said i believe i did use the n-word in reference for the current occupant of the white

house. for this, i do not apologize. he meets and exceeds my criteria for such. part-time resident mitt romney urged him to resign saying that vile language has no place in hour community. the episode came to a head today when the police confirmed that the embattled commissioner had, in fact, just resigned. the president of bernard center for women, politics and public policy. and the reporter with "the washington post." wesley, start with this story, is there any nuance, any exculpatory aspect to this, or is it as blunt as it seems? a guy who's so cantankerously wrong? so bad in his use of language, so horrible given the history of that word, so horrible that he knows how bad it is and he said damn it, i'm going to keep using it. is there anything i'm missing here? >> i don't think you're misunderstanding.

so far it seems to be as blunt as it seems. and in fairness, robert copeland has not responded to requests for comment. showed up at his house yesterday and no one answered. when he appeared at this public meeting last week thursday, about 100 residents showed up, many of whom called for him to resign. there's video of him calling a tv reporter a skunk and seeming upset and a little cranky, for lack of a better word. it seems to be pretty cut and dry here that robert copeland used language that has been condemned pretty widely by republicans and democrats, locally as well as nationally, and then double downed on that language and then seemed only after a series of meetings with other police commissioners and calls around the country as well as the local people in new hampshire where he finally said fine, i'll resign. he sent in a two-word resignation e-mail last night that said "i resign." '. >> you know what's interesting about the ethnic groups in america don't know how ore ethnic groups talk among

themselves. they never really know. i don't know what it's like to be black and talking to another black when i'm not there. but at my age, i haven't used that n-word used in conversation. it's hard to believe. you may hear jocks do it between themselves, but white people using it, it's gone. it's pretty much gone. i mean gone. we were told in the 1950s, my parents are fairly conservative, you couldn't use a word like that in the '50s ever. here 60 years later, it's funny that he's been able -- not funny, i think funny not ha ha, but funny weird. has he really gotten away with it all these years or did he use it on that one occasion for the first time in his life? no, we don't believe that. he's been getting away with it. >> absolutely not. it shocks the conscious, it's horrible, but i would venture to guess that any african-american you talk to, particularly in light of recent events over the, you know, over the last few weeks, would probably tell you

that we suspect that that word is used all of the time, post barack obama. >> let's start request age. >> it doesn't matter. >> the prevalent use of it, if there is any prevalent use of it. i haven't come across it. i haven't even heard generalized comments about black people in general anymore. it's just faded. people don't sit around and say those people. they don't talk like that anymore. as a reporter covering this, do you think -- can you generalize and say this guy is 82 years old. does that explain, not justify, how he would even get away with using a word like this? i speak my mind. you know, that kind of thing. put it in context if you can. >> of course. we see that type of defense often when an older white man comes you should fire for using this type of language or talking about minorities in this type of way. it's similar to the defense of donald sterling. can you expect this man --

>> i'm not defending it. i'm trying to isolate where it occurs and not generalize among all age group whence i don't think there's evidence among all age groups. >> of course. and it's hard. you have places here like new hampshire in this town where there are have you few minorities. that's not to say any town that's that way is going to breed that type of resentment or racism, with that said, when you have people who are older who tend to not interact with people of other races or ethnicities, it's not surprising especially for people of color to see this type of language or to hear this type of interaction. >> i'm not surprised by -- i'm not surprised by this at all. nothing i think can any longer shock me. but i think one of the things we need to focus on is, you know, the system that allows people to continue to think this. if we see gerrymandering so that africans with no longer -- >> i'm just asking this. if you heard a 20-year-old say this, wouldn't it be more shocking than an 80-year-old saying this?

i don't think 20-year-olds think like this anymore. >> i hope they don't. nothing would shock me, but i think we need to focus on other things. >> they know better an to say this. people try to suppress the vote. you have to stand in line zen hours to vote. tomorrow night, and it's a poll tax. >> i'm with you. i do want to say speak on behalf of people, i talk to all kinds of people all the time, this guy is really not typical. i wouldn't want anybody to get the idea, this is how people talk when nobody is around listening. it can't normal. the fact that this woman heard it and reported it immediately tells you about the current state of affairs. that it was considered newsworthy and impeachable. thank you. up next, first republicans took away voting rights. now they're cutting back on free speech. and the right to protest. at least in the tarheel state. this is "hardball" the place for

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and a free 30-tablet trial. anct nc ]o#2evaan t ies aratg ] ou kouray yo >> the san antonio mayor is the favorite to join the cabinet as secretary of housing and urban development. he would replace shean donovan who's moving over to the office of management and budget. that's got a lot of people talking about castro's future nationally. some say the move would elevate

castro who gave the keynote address in the 2012 democratic convention for being a possible running mate for hillary clinton. that would be an unprecedented jump. the last hud secretary was jack kaemp. he served 18 years in congress before taking over at had you had.

>> welcome back to "hardball." north carolina has become the place for protest for voter id laws. it became more difficult for democratic-leaning groups,

including minorities, to vote. soon thousands of people were regularly descend on the state capitol to oppose those and other laws paszed by the legislature. now the legislature is try to stop the people who are trying to stop the legislature. believe it. last week, they passed new rules that seem intended to stifle exactly the kind of protests that's been happening at the state capitol. the new rules limit things like singing, clapping, shouting, playing instruments. just wh many protesters were doing. so in north carolina, first they say you can't vote. now they say you can't speak. the right wing state government is doubling down on what i believe is evil in america. the director of the voting rights project and co-director of the the advancement project. penda, just explain the interesting correlation between what the protesters were doing and what that covers.

>> in simple terms, the north carolina naacp and the forward together movement which protested on 13 straight mondays last summer was set to resume and has resumed today. so on may 15th, they met and adopted new building rules and changed a code that hadn't been changed since 1989 and these new rules, for example, prohibit signs that disturb the legislature. well, as i see it, the role of these protests is to disturb the legislature to let the legislature know that the people are disturbed by the voter suppression law that's been

passed and all of the other right wing regressive laws. another -- they also prohibit, as you said, singing, talking at a not normal voice and, as you might recall, when the protesters started last year, they would sing and then pray and then talk about the problems that they had with the legislature, so this seems to me to violate the united states constitution which protects free speech and it protects the right of the people to petition the legislature. >> well, that's interesting because i was thinking of the constitution, which is the 15th amendment guarantees the right to vote, the first to free speech, assembly and petition congress, and legislatures i assume were included. i think the only part of the constitution some like is the gun part. >> certainly the atmospherics are hard to ignore. as penda indicated, there have been multiple restrictions on

the people's ability to access their government. in addition to the restrictions to the ballot box, there were changes to the laws governing money and politics, which may make it harder for ordinary citizens to have their voices heard and what kind of government do we want? do we want the kind where there are unnecessary barriers to people being able to access the people that are supposed to be representing them, and i think it's very, very clear that the people want our government to be free, fair and accessible and do not want politicians manipulating the rules of the game to make sure -- >> you say that and speak for the people. you're speaking for the people. will the center, what's left of it in north carolina, rally to this cause, or will they be part of the conservatives who say, shut up? which side will the middle go to? you speak with authority. will the people -- are there still enough moderate republicans and independents in the state of north carolina to rally to the side of those who want to vote and speak? >> i'm hopeful. there was, in fact, a bipartisan

opposition to this particular regulation, and i think the idea of being able to access our government and being able to have a fair voice in our government is a very bipartisan notion, and right now the big question is is in north carolina are there partisan voices so extreme they are going to prevent that, but one thing we do know, people take their right to vote very seriously. people take their right to free speech very seriously, and when there are efforts to restrict that, the people respond. we certainly saw a big widespread response when there was a wave of restrictions across the country in the lead-up to the 2012 elections to try to restrict the right to vote, and i'm hopeful that voters will similarly protect their rights here and will similarly demand that -- >> the problem -- here and the problem -- let me go back to penda, the state of north carolina went against president obama in 2012 and went for him in 2008, so the state is moving

to the right. does a state leaning to the right listen to these pleas, yes or no? >> you know, chris, i was just with reverend barbour and some of the key leaders of the forward together movement at the first baptist church where they were preparing to march over to the legislature and the reverend said two things indicative of what will happen in the state over the next few months. one he said is that there will be young people leading voter registration and civic engagement in 50 key counties over freedom summer. this is the 50th anniversary of when people fought and died for the right to vote before the voting rights act was passed 50 years ago and second is, he said that since these -- since this movement began, the legislature has dropped in popularity from over 50% to, he said, 19%. so i think there will be some accountability in the state in the near future.

>> thanks so much. i'm with you all the way. myrna perez and penda hair, thank you so much. we'll be back after this.

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first the political positioning. hillary is a notch and a half, i'd say, to the right of president obama on foreign policy. i consider that the sweet spot. a little tough, a little more for american involvement than obama but not too much. not over there with the republicans and their neocon allies who want us at constant war with whoever happens to be thumbing their nose at us. second, there are her talents, hard work, experience, a willingness to work with republicans, indeed, a real feel for the political world and how it works. if she weren't a candidate, i'm sure a lot of republicans would be saying this. it's an established fact that people who work with her like her. she is, to paraphrase an old adversary, more than likable enough. third, the american people have had it up to here with the politics that argue incessantly and gets nothing done, this damn gridlock, and want a president to crack through the ice of do nothing government and bring down the walls that divide the two parties which discourage them from working together for the country. look at the list of prospective

presidents for both parties, and besides hillary clinton that has the track record she does, tell me someone who can carry on on this front. fourth, for this country to compete with china, we need to find a leader who inspires trust, trust to rebuild america, trust with the money to do it, trust to rebuild our immigration policy and trust to bring harmony and hope at home and true enforcement at the border. that too requires trust. getting elected president alongside a republican congress would simply mean more gridlock, more anger and more defeat of american optimism and another decade of lost ground against our global competition. in other words, more nothing. to me the only strategy for hillary clinton to follow is come into office with enough power propelled by a sizable majority, in the mid-50s, for example, so she can do what roosevelt did in the '30s, what, johnson did in the mid-'60s to really change america for the better. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. don't forget we'll have full coverage of tonight's big

primaries first on "hardball" live at 7:00 eastern and be back live with all the results and analysis at 10:00 p.m. eastern. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. ♪ good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes, and it is primary night eve in america. voters are preparing to go to the polls tomorrow for contested primaries in arkansas, georgia, idaho, kentucky, oregon and pennsylvania and in this era of tea party dominance with red state primaries now doubling as bitter battles for the future of the republican party, the stakes are high and the fight for victory has gotten downright nasty this evening. it is nasty in idaho where governor butch otter used a bit of jujitsu to make sure two fringe candidates were on stage to steal the show in the lone debate in the governor's race. this, of course, infuriated his only serious challenger, senator